Keshet, DC Media Form Joint Venture for Unscripted Shows

Keshet International and Dick Clark Productions’ parent company DC Media have paired up to form Keshet DCP, which will develop, finance and deliver high-quality unscripted shows to English- and Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S. and other territories.

The joint venture, announced Wednesday by Keshet Media Group CEO Avi Nir and DC Media CEO Allen Shapiro, will take advantage of both Keshet’s success in the unscripted arena and DC’s infrastructure in America and production expertise.

Keshet DCP will receive rights to Keshet International’s catalog of unscripted formats, which number more than 20, along with future unscripted formats.

One of the first shows to be taken up by the joint venture is the international talent format “Rising Star,” which harnesses digital and social media innovation and marks the first format incorporating real-time voting by viewers via an app that is fully integrated into the show.

“Rising Star” broke records with this week in Israel on Keshet Channel 2, scoring a massive 49.4 percent household share and 37.7 percent household rating, with almost half of all TV audiences tuned into the show.

Other Keshet formats available to the joint venture include the family game show “Sure or Insure” and the children’s talent show “Master Class.”

“Keshet is a global leader in television programming with consummate leadership under Avi Nir, making them an ideal partner as we continue strategic growth in the U.S. and internationally,” Shapiro said in a statement. “By combining our powerful resources, we hope to create a vast slate of the most compelling unscripted programming possible.”